Skitters were hot on our tails. They were few—only one or two catching up at a time—but they were quick, unrelenting and deadly. They seemed to know where we were no matter how fast we ran.

“Focus, everyone. This is a matter of life and death,” Rob advised us. “Once we’ve make it out of here, we’re safe. The exit I’ve prepared has a small bomb that we could detonate after we get out. It will seal the exit so these Skitters won’t be able to follow us anymore.”

“Where do we exit?” Fred asked.

“In the northern part of Clover Heights. I bought a rundown garage there. It’s permanently closed but it has a car inside we could use to escape. I prepared several of these places throughout the city in case of situations like this.”

“Very prudent, yes?”

“Keep up the speed. We still have some distance to cover.”

I gave Vanessa a piggyback ride so she could focus on managing her familiars since she had sent out almost all of them. She was bigger than me and, at first, was hesitant to climb on my back. Rob and Dominic, however, had to concentrate on fighting, and she also didn’t want Fred to carry her. Haha, poor guy. She had a hard time trying to articulate why she was uncomfortable with it so I just picked her up over her complaints.

Her weight wasn’t much of a problem. She locked her legs around my torso. With one hand, I held her legs in place high up on my waist so they wouldn’t drag on the floor due to our difference in height; my other hand still gripped my stolen gun containing its precious two bullets. Vanessa wrapped her arms around my neck; the high-heeled sandals she was holding dangled down my chest. Rob told her to throw them away but I explained to him that there might be toe prints on the sandal and we couldn’t be a hundred percent certain if Vanessa could wipe it completely clean.

“Are you serious?” Rob said. His pace slightly slowed with hesitation. “Toe prints can be used to identify people like fingerprints?”

“There’s a few cases in history that toe prints were used in criminal investigations,” I said in between huffs of air while I ran, recalling something I’ve read in a criminal law book.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” he angrily said. “Damn it, I should’ve crushed Raphie’s feet too.”

“It’s extremely rare for toe prints to be used for identification. Mostly because, unlike finger prints, there’s no database for those. After we escape here, just tell your friend’s wife to thoroughly wipe everything that may have his toe prints and problem solved. There’s no need to worry.”

“How about Essa?”

“It’s different with Vanessa. She can’t exactly wipe off the patterns on the bottom of her feet now, can she? She can’t even burn it off or mutilate it in some way because she’ll just regenerate it back. We’ll have to make sure not to leave any evidence behind, like her toe prints.”

“I can see your point,” Rob said. “Next time, tell me immediately if you know something important like this.”

Vanessa gasped and tightened her hold around my neck for a second, choking me. I almost blurted out, “Fuck”, but held my tongue. I gave her a sidelong glance. Her head was right next to mine, our cheeks almost touching. Her eyes were tightly shut; she was completely focused on the viewpoint of her familiars. A teardrops slid from the corner of her eye.

“Did another one die?” I said.

“Yes, but it’s far away from here.”

Each time one of her eyeball pets died, she could feel it. The sockets on her arm where that specific dead eyeball came from would bleed. A number of them already died so we covered Vanessa’s eyeball arm with a large piece of Dominic’s coat to prevent her dripping blood along the floor which the Skitters could use to follow us. She could heal herself no problem, and she explained to me that her familiars would regenerate after a few days, but I assumed it still felt like parts of her body were removed piece by piece while she couldn’t do anything about it. I wouldn’t want that experience even though I had super healing.

“Essa, your familiars, how many remain?”

“Three out, and one last still in my arm. I’m trying to use them to draw away the Skitters, but they can’t survive for long. And then the Skitters would just continue chasing us.”

“They do seem to show up at every turn,” Dominic said. “It’s like they know where we are.”

“Hey, Greaves girl,” Rob said.

What was the fake name I gave them again? “It’s Rachel.”

“Rachel, do you know if they have any way of tracking us?”

“Skitters have scanners that can probably detect where we went. But I’m not sure if that’s how they’re tracking us.”

“We are still far from the exit, no?” Fred said.

“Not that far. But we have to make it past a long narrow tunnel up ahead. No place to hide.”

There was a collective groan of disappointment from our group. Straight paths were the most dangerous place to meet a Skitter. We’d be basically trapped in a kill zone and our only hope of survival was Rob shielding us. He had to hold on long enough for Dominic to restrict and trap the Skitter. That was our strategy all this time. Besides the Skitter in the generator room, they had already trapped a couple more Skitters and also threw one down a large pipe.

Even if, like Rob mentioned, he and Dominic didn’t have any actual experience fighting with their powers, they made a pretty good team.

As I had observed, Dominic could summon red and blue circles, three of each, which could only move, almost glide, on the surface of the floor or walls or even other objects. The red ones made anything on top of them sink down, kind of like the power of Rofirio, the idiot who kidnapped me. Unlike Rofirio’s power though, which only liquified the surface he touched, the red circles actively sucked things into them, burying them into the floor or wall.

In contrast, the blue ones sucked the material of the surface they were on to make tendrils which Dominic could then control.

Rob’s powers were pretty straightforward. He becomes bigger and more muscular, his strength, durability, regeneration and endurance multiplied a fewfold. And he could then absorb materials he touched to synthesize an armor to protect his entire body.

I was pretty sure I could take on Dominic; the tendrils were only as strong as the material they were made of, and the circles were slightly visible if one paid close attention. Vanessa wouldn’t be a concern either. Rob was a different story when he was in a transformed state. Lastly, I was also wary of what Fred’s actual power was, although he didn't seem to want to use it.

“How many steel bars do you have left?” Fred asked, anxiety laced his voice. “Still many, yes?”

Rob held up one steel bar with his meaty fingers; he was permanently on transformed mode now. “Only this one. We have to make this count. Dom, the next Skitter we meet, hold it while I destroy it. I’ll take some of its parts.”

“That’s risky, no?”

“Are you sure, Rob?” Dominic said.

“We have no choice. I have to find something to use. This bar is made of specially hardened steel I ordered, that’s why I can stand the Skitter’s firepower with an armor made out of this. If I use concrete or the metal from the pipes and doors around us, I will barely last a few seconds.”

“Like what happened in the generator room, yes?”

“Now, what object do you think could make an armor that could protect me against Skitters?”

“A Skitter’s own armor,” I said.

“Correcto, Greaves girl. I’m sure those goddamn murder machines are very durable. Dominic couldn’t even dent them. That’s why I’m going to use this last steel bar to get close to one and dismantle it. I’d have enough material for armor synthesis for more fights.”

“What will you do when you get close to it?” Dominic said. “You had to throw that last Skitter down that chute because it was electrocuting you with its feelers. It's almost a fluke I was able to close that pipe using my red and blue circles at the same time, or it would've climbed back up and killed us all.”

“Rob, don’t do it,” Vanessa said. “How can you dismantle a Skitter if you can’t touch it? Its metal plating is also conducting the electricity from its feelers.”

“Your armor would start peeling if you’re shocked and the Skitter could slice through you like butter with its charged blades. With three tendrils I can only hold back the guns, not the blades too.”

Rob stopped at the mouth of a narrow circular tunnel. “It’s funny that you mentioned conducting electricity because my plan is related to that.” He ripped the shoes off his feet; they were already falling apart due to the size of his transformed feet. “Greaves girl here gave me an idea.” He held up the tattered shoes with a proud grin, his contorted, overly muscular face looking even weirder. “Leather is an insulator."

“Uh…yes. You sure that will work?”

Rob shrugged. “Let’s go.”

“There’s a Skitter in this area,” Vanessa said. “I only caught a glimpse of it earlier.”

We listened intently for any hint of the dreadful scratching sound the Skitter made when it moved. Nothing. The only sounds were our feet on the floor of this narrow tunnel. A thought came to mind. Perhaps I should share it to look like a helpful member of the team.

“Rob, you told me to speak up when I think of something important,” I said. He only grunted as an answer. “I’m not super sure, but I think diamonds are insulators too. You and Vanessa were talking about a diamond bracelet earlier?”

“Really? They’re insulators?” Vanessa said, almost yelling in my ear.

“I think they are. Is that why you told Vanessa to save them?”

“No, I told Vanessa to keep them because I gifted them to her when she was a child. I will only use it in the direst situations. I didn’t know it’s also an insulator. I only know that diamond is the hardest material in the world and would make a good armor in case of an emergency.”

“Do you want it now, Rob?”

“Nah, keep it. I can use my leather shoes to insulate myself. I’ll tell you when I will need it.”

“Okay then,” Vanessa said. “Wha—?!” She gripped me tightly again.

“Urgk,” I croaked, trying to loosen Vanessa’s hold on my neck. “Is it here?” I said. Everyone stopped. They all knew what I meant by ‘it’.

“A Skitter! I’ll try to distra—it killed my familiar!”

“Coming from the front?” Rob said.

“Yes!”

“Traps out,” Dominic said.

Fred crouched down, making himself as small as possible, and hid behind one of Rob’s trunk-like legs. “Oh my, we don’t have much space to move.”

Rob raised his hand. “Making this last one count,” he said, absorbing the steel bar. He finished coating himself in a hardened steel armor just as the Skitter came into view at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel was sparsely lit so I could spot Dominic’s circles zipping to the Skitter. The red circles positioned themselves below the Skitter but it jumped high up and clung to the ceiling, burying its bladed legs to secure itself.

“Shit,” Dominic spat.

The Skitter opened fire, lighting up the tunnel. We huddled behind Rob. Bullets ricocheted off his body, hitting the walls. Clouds of debris formed. Sharps objects rained on us. Parts of the wall? Or shrapnel? I covered my head with my hands and shielded Vanessa with my body. Being wounded by shrapnel was a small sacrifice to gain their trust and, more importantly, to keep Vanessa safe. I needed her, all of us needed her to safely escape.

“Catch it!” Rob said.

“I can’t see where it is!” Dominic sneaked a peek behind the massive wall that was Rob and was rewarded with a bullet that took a small chunk off his cheek. He yelled and held his bleeding face.

Shouting over the deafening rumble of the Skitter’s gunfire, Rob tried to explain to Dominic the Skitter’s movements but he still couldn’t catch it. Did the Skitters figure out how Dominic’s powers worked and then shared the information among themselves? “This is going nowhere,” Rob said. He bellowed, charging towards the Skitter.

“Don’t leave us!” Fred said.

Dominic pushed Vanessa and me down. “Hug the floor!” Bullets zipped above us.

Rob launched himself at the Skitter, pulling it from the ceiling. He slammed it to the floor, grabbed one of its legs and smashed it against the wall. He then ripped the leg off.

Was he actually going to win?

The Skitter jumped on him. Sparks erupted and covered both of them. Rob screamed in pain. The legs of the Skitter buried themselves deep into Rob’s flank, his armor giving way as he was electrocuted. With a massive heave, he threw the Skitter upside down onto Dominic’s waiting red circles on the floor. The floor absorbed the gun turret of the Skitter, rendering it useless.

Rob was still convulsing from the shock coursing through his body via the charged blades embedded in him. The Skitter didn't let go of him, pulling him down as it was sinking into the floor.

“He’s going to die!” Vanessa said. She shoved Dominic away and rushed to Rob’s aid.

“Vanessa, don’t touch him,” I yelled, running after her.

Dominic’s tendrils tried to pry the Skitter’s legs out of Rob’s body, but was only able to remove a couple of them. Rob saw Vanessa was coming and yelled at her to stay away, but she didn’t stop. With a mighty roar, Rob brought his foot down on the underbelly of the Skitter, pushing it further into the red circle and, at the same time, used it as a platform to jump away. The blades left his body as he flew across the air and crashed into the wall of the tunnel.

I caught Vanessa and held her. “Look, it’s still dangerous to get close.”

Rob was twitching, sparks jumping all over him, but he was still conscious, wearing a determined expression on his face. “Stay there, Essa,” he said with labored breathing. “Greaves girl, hold her.”

“Rob, are you okay?” Vanessa said.

He’s not, obviously, I thought. Why do we keep asking questions with obvious answers? Rob begun to absorb one of his leather shoes. The sparks died down when he was covered with leather.

“Amazing resilience, yes?”

“That’s Rob for you,” Dominic said.

Vanessa pried my arms off of her waist and ran to Rob’s side. We all followed her and gathered around Rob.

“Got that fucking hunk of metal,” he said, holding the leg he removed from the Skitter as trophy. “I can get more parts now that it’s trapped like an overturned turtle.” He tried to stand and then grimaced. “What the hell?”

“What is it? Maybe you should rest for a minute or two.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea, no?” Fred said. “We have to keep moving. Other Skitters will come, yes?”

Rob rapidly turned back to human. “Wait a goddamn minute. There’s something…” He dug inside one of his wounds caused by the Skitter. Blood spurted out of the wound, but he kept on digging with his fingers even though the pain he was experiencing was apparent on his face. “Damn, what the hell is this?”

Vanessa reached out to him, but he swatted her hand away. “Rob, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Are you getting a kidney stone?” Dominic said with a half-hearted smile. He pressed on his bleeding cheek.

“No, I don’t know…I’m about to get it out,” Rob said with clenched teeth. “There!” Between his bloodied fingers was a small cylindrical metallic object he retrieved from inside his body.

“What is that?”

“This fuckin’ piece of shit was electrocuting me from the inside. The Skitter injected it in my body.”

As everyone came closer to have a look, a stroke of genius crossed my mind. “That looks familiar," I said. "It almost looks like…” I grabbed it and pretended to intently examine. “Ah! It is.” I dropped it to the floor and stepped on it until it broke into pieces.

“Huh? Why did you do that?”

“What was it anyway?”

“It’s an electro-shock weapon for incapacitating Adumbrae. Like a mini stun gun with a battery. You could’ve guessed that, I suppose. But it has a second purpose. When it fails to incapacitate its target, it also doubles as something…a beacon for other Skitters.”

“A tracker?” Rob whispered.

“They have trackers?” said Dominic. “That makes so much sense. If it can’t stop an Adumbrae, then it will call other Skitters over to its location.”

“Then that means we have to get out of here now, yes?”

“Is that how they were tracking us? But wait—”

“We don't have anything like that,” Vanessa said as she patted her body. "We would've noticed."

I nodded. “You're right, we don’t.”

“We should be careful not to have any trackers on our person.”

“I’m not sure how to say this…but it’s just that they’ve been following us like they're already tracking us.”

“Same impression here, Greaves girl,” Rob said. “I did have that thought at the back of my mind. Vanessa’s familiars were reduced to mere early warning devices with their deaths instead of actual scouts because the Skitters appeared to know which way to go.”

“Where’s the tracker then?” Dominic said.

“I can’t recall an instance a Skitter could've placed a tracker on or even inside us…” I said slowly for dramatic effect, my eyes darting around. “Unless…” My eyes stopped on Fred’s clothes, colored red with his blood.

Rob followed my gaze. “You!” he said, grabbing Fred. “Damn you! Were you the one leading them to us?”

“Wha-what? Me? No, no, no!”

“Let go of him, Rob,” Vanessa said, pounding on Rob’s shoulder. But he wasn’t listening to her. He was already transforming again.

“You said you were shot by a Skitter before you met us? Is that how it got a tracker inside you?” Rob’s growled as he towered over Fred.

“Get your hands off! I don’t have a tracker inside me.”

“How sure are you of that? Can we check—?”

“You want to check inside my body, yes?" Fred punched Rob's face but it had no effect. "To hell with that.”

Rob began to absorb the leg of the Skitter. Metal armored in the same shade as the Skitter's blanketed his body. “You said you hid with Raphie? You fucking led the Skitters to him, you bastard!”

“There’s no proof of that!”

“Rob, stop it,” Vanessa said. “Fred wasn’t followed by a Skitter when we met him.”

“Vanessa, let’s stay out of this,” I said, realizing that Vanessa might become the voice of reason. “We have to get moving now, other Skitters might come soon. We’re not sure how many of them are left. Or maybe the ones Dominic trapped have already freed themselves.”

“Yes, we’ll have to go,” Dominic said.

Rob said. “Without Fred.”

“You’re leaving me here? You can’t be serious, no?”

Rob gave his phone to Dominic. “Use the map and go on ahead, I’ll follow. I’ve memorized the way.”

Dominic hesitantly accepted the phone. “Rob, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll die if you leave me.” Fred tried to go to Vanessa but Rob held him. “Vanessa’s your name, yes? We’re on the same side, yes? You said that yourself.”

“Shut your mouth,” Rob said. “You go—"

“We are. We are on the same side. Rob don't—”

“Come here, Vanessa,” I said, bodily lifting her. “Don’t worry about us, Rob. I won’t let go of Vanessa.”

“No! Put me down.”

“All of you go. Now!”

I ran while dragging Vanessa. “Lead the way Dominic.” He had no choice but to follow us. Based on my impression of Fred and Rob, I kind of had an idea of what’s going to happen. It was best that we weren’t around.

“Don’t leave me! Vanessa, help me!” Fred yelled trying to chase after us, but Rob slapped him back and pinned him to the wall.

“Rachel, let go of me!” Vanessa protested, but I ignored her.

It was kinda reasonable to assume Skitters would have trackers. The possibility the object inside Rob was an actual tracker was also high. Was that actually a tracker?

Who knows…

Not me.

Hehehe.

I focused my strength, both mental and physical, on restraining Vanessa just so I wouldn’t giggle. I was very, very close to breaking into fits of laughter; it’s already bubbling under the surface.

Even if that was an actual tracker, we’d have no way of checking if Fred also had one without opening him up—something that he was, understandably, opposed to. Vanessa had a point though. Fred ran a long way without getting killed by a Skitter. But tensions were running high, people weren't thinking straight, and everyone just wants to escape in one piece.

Sorry, Fred, I had to thin our numbers. I hope you survive out there on your own. I now had to think of some way to incapacitate Rob. How about that bomb he mentioned?

We faintly heard the yells of Fred, “If you leave me behind, I’ll surrender and reveal everything to the Bureau!”

Oooo…Why did you say that, dumbass? That was actually a legit threat and other people would have caved in to that. But not Rob. If it weren't for Vanessa, Rob would've already left me behind even if I didn't have a tracker. Fred should’ve realized the lengths Rob would go to save himself…and Vanessa.

The sounds of Fred and Rob arguing continued to echo in the tunnels even as we got further and further away from them. Vanessa strained to escape from my bear hug, but Dominic helped me in stopping her.

A bloodcurdling scream made us halt.

Then everything was silent. All of us realized what happened.

And Vanessa stopped struggling to get back to Rob.